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CM . . . .
Volume V Number 18 . . . . May 7, 1999
Nicolai Gogol's short story masterpiece "The Overcoat" has been read and
admired for 150 years. In Gogol's Coat, Cary Fagan has turned this
tale of a civil servant in l9th century St. Petersburg, who spends his
life savings on a new overcoat only to have it stolen on the first
occasion he wears it, into a children's story. At the end of his book, the
author notes that on first reading the famous short story "...I felt very
sorry for this poor man, and for a long time I used to imagine how the
ending might have been different." And so, in order to have the famous
coat returned to its rightful owner, Fagan has re-written the story. In
his rendition, the author turns Akaky the "...somewhat short, somewhat
pockmarked, somewhat red-haired," middle-aged copy clerk of the original
story, into a red-haired young alphabet copier named Gogol, a poor but
talented boy whose pleasure in his work is marred by spiteful tricks
played on him by a jealous fellow employee. Gogol lives in a drafty attic
room with no companion but Rose, a stray dog who jumps through his window
each morning to awaken him. With nothing but his tattered old overcoat to
protect him from that cruel enemy of the poor, the "northern frost" of his
city, Gogol finally decides he must take his coat to Levick, the tailor,
to be repaired. Alas, as in the original story, the tailor tells him his
coat is beyond repair, and that he must find the money to purchase a new
one. Like Akaky, Gogol offers all his hard-earned savings for a new coat.
The tailor brings his new overcoat to him on a morning so cold "...that
the city was sheathed in ice. Even the hands on the clock tower had
frozen." Levick has made a masterpiece; the coat fits perfectly, is sewn
with double seams and has a silk lining on to which the tailor has
stitched a red velvet letter "G". Gogol's joy in his new coat is
short-lived, however, for it is stolen from him on his way home from a
party. At this point, author Fagan veers sharply from the original.
Instead of fruitless attempts to persuade various police authorities to
search for his overcoat, as happens in poor Akaky's case, his ingenious
hero, Gogol, with the help of the faithful Rose, is able to recover his
beloved overcoat.
Regolo Ricci's illustrations, done in rich, deep sepia-like tones are
wonderfully detailed and merit close scrutiny, for they bring to life for
the reader those details of time and place that are lacking in Fagan's
text.
There is no doubt that Fagan's ending is a good deal more satisfying than
the original in which the protagonist dies and his ghost returns to St.
Petersburg to strip overcoats from people's backs on the pretext of
recovering his stolen property. Gogol's Coat is just the right
length for a read-aloud to 7 to 10 year-olds. With its clever and engaging
hero, its theme of hard work and resourcefulness rewarded, plus the
special twist at the end of the story, the book is bound to delight young
listeners.
Recommended.
Valerie Nielsen is a recently retired teacher-librarian who lives in Winnipeg, MB.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association.
Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice
is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without
permission.
Published by
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - MAY 7,
1999.
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